Saying Thank You

In May, I received an amazing surprise gift. A Singer featherweight sewing machine!

My dad made the table from an old treadle sewing machine base. My maternal great grandfather was a Singer repairman!

My great aunt Ruelena knew I was looking for one, so she decided to purchase one for me! My parents and grandparents had helped her out during the winter, and knowing they would never accept payment, she decided to pay it forward! So unexpected!

Christmas in August

Anybody else having a busy month? I have several things on my plate this month, so I thought a simple quilting project was in order.

A year ago, one of my favorite online quilt shops went out of business and I snatched up a few yards yards upon yards of fabric for 99 cents a yard! I used some to make pillowcases, some to make my Scintillating Stars quilt, and now I'm using some to make Christmas table runners. Don't worry, I still have plenty for future projects!

Then and Now

After my most recent quilt finish (the Round Robin quilt), I've been thinking a lot about how far I've come since my very first quilt. Then this week, my friend Leanne (she blogs at Devoted Quilter), is hosting a linky party on exactly that subject!

I made my first quilt in 2010. I bought a fabric book panel and coordinating solid fabrics from Jo-Ann's. I knew nothing about fabric and less about quilting! I watched YouTube videos for every step. Then called my mom with a million questions. Then called my grandma with even more! I thought everything had to be done the "right" way. I tried many techniques in that first quilt - applique, biased binding, and even free motion quilting!

Teal Mini Swap 2016

Have you ever participated in a quilt swap?

Maybe you remember my deer quilt? Or my art quilt of the road I live on? Or my Horton quilt? Or my big dipper quilt? Those were all for quilt swaps!

Round Robin - A Finished Quilt

In January, my best quilty friend, Heather, and I started a Round Robin quilt. Now, just over seven months later, we both have finished quilts!

Do you remember how it worked? We set some rules (that we I often broke) and each started by making a center block. Then we mailed the block to the other person to add a border. Then switched two more times to add another border each round. We then gave ourselves two three months to finish the quilts. (Read about the previous rounds here: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, and Round 4.)

This one is for Dallas

This quilt was not on my to-do list. I didn't really have "time" to make it. But it's important.

There seems to be a lot (or maybe a "LOT") of chatter on social media about love lately. And the political scene is adding a whole host of other chatter too. In the midst of all of this, I keep hearing the slogan, "Let's make America great again." Please remove any political affiliation this slogan has, and just think about the premise of the slogan. I'm sure we can all agree there's some truth to it. Didn't America used to be great? What has happened? What made it great before? What does a great America look like? How will it become great again?

Scintillating Stars

Do you have any sewing UFOs at your house? Any UnFinished Objects? If you're like me, you have quite a few!

Today, this quilt has moved from the UFO pile to the finished pile!

This quilt started in July 2015. I volunteered to be a pattern tester for Beth of EvaPaige Quilt Designs. (You may remember that after testing her Hexies a la Mode pattern, my version became the cover of the pattern!)